Shadow localisation: weighing up the risks and opportunities

Shadow localisation is becoming a growing risk for businesses expanding into international markets.

Imagine seeing a slump in sales in Germany from one quarter to the next. The signs were there: conversion rates, bounce rate, click-through rate. All down. When you dig deeper, you discover a new spectre haunting businesses: shadow localisation.

Teams that perceive traditional localisation as slow or expensive now have a host of low-cost alternatives to choose from. Shadow localisation refers to language-related tasks happening “in the dark”. Outside agreed workflows, and often without your knowledge.

What does that look like? Your marketing, customer support or product teams may be using free tools like ChatGPT to translate content on the fly. While this might seem efficient, it poses significant risks. In this blog post, we explore why shadow localisation is happening. We’ll also outline what you need to know to protect your business’ reputation and bottom line.

What is shadow localisation?

Language without leadership

Shadow localisation happens when teams bypass language professionals and translate content independently. This often means relying on general-purpose AI tools and skipping review processes altogether. It may seem faster and cheaper, but it cuts corners in ways that matter.

Why shadow localisation is on the rise

It could simply mean that your employees aren’t aware of existing processes for localizing content. In this case, promoting awareness could be sufficient.

More problematic is the perception that localisation teams are blockers, not enablers. This is an issue that warrants deeper investigation. The underlying cause in this case might be a misalignment of KPIs between teams.

Generative AI has made it easier than ever for non-specialists to translate content. Teams feel empowered to act quickly with low-cost, convenient tools at their fingertips. Using these tools can be tremendously appealing, particularly for teams that are under time and budget pressure. But speed comes at a cost. Especially when quality, compliance and customer engagement are on the line.

Why it matters for your business

Shadow localisation is a brand and commercial risk

Your brand reputation depends on messaging that resonates across all your markets. Shadow localisation undermines this. By sidelining language experts, you risk publishing content that harms your brand. All that work to carefully hone your image can be undone in an instant. And once that trust has gone, it’s hard to win it back.

Exposure to legal risks and compliance issues

In regulated industries, even minor translation errors can lead to legal trouble. Without expert oversight, your teams could publish content that lands your business in hot water. This can be downright dangerous, especially in high-stakes sectors like healthcare.

Even just using AI tools can pose an information security risk. What confidential company information are your employees uploading to these tools? How do those tools process that data? Are there GDPR implications of uploading your EU-based customers’ data to public tools? Is your content being used to train AI models? Is there a risk of exposing IP? These are all questions that you should consider before allowing your employees to use such tools.

Hidden costs and missed revenue opportunities

Low-cost doesn’t mean free. Maverick spending on AI tools affects your business’ profit. Another often overlooked aspect is the amount of time your team is spending to fix faulty output. It’s important to get an understanding of the true cost of machine translation and rein in hidden costs.

Bland, poorly localized content can also lead to lost sales, higher bounce rates and lower customer engagement. Professional localisation means your message is effective in every market.

How to address shadow localisation risks in your business

Prioritise accountability

Inevitably, when localisation goes wrong, it’s the localisation team that gets the blame. But what happens if your localisation team wasn’t even involved?

It can take time to unpick what went wrong, how it happened, and who was responsible. And when shadow localisation is at play, it can be even more time-consuming to put things right.

Promoting a culture of accountability across your business will make teams think twice about what they’re putting their name to.

This starts by shifting left and going right to the C-suite. Localisation should be a strategic function, not an afterthought. Your business might have this capability in-house. If not, partnering with a professional language service provider is a sound investment. They’ll be able to give you the quality control, cultural expertise and accountability you need to achieve your business outcomes.

For example, one enterprise resource company found that shadow localisation resulted in a drop in dwell time on their blog. Their AI-generated blog posts weren’t holding readers’ attention. They enlisted Planet Languages’ help with their multilingual marketing assets to boost their presence in northern Europe. They’ve now strengthened their market share in this region. 

Enable speed without sacrificing standards

It’s important to understand why shadow localisation may have proliferated in your business. This involves addressing misconceptions around localisation. Translation no longer has to mean slow and expensive.

Many language service providers now offer AI-enabled workflows. They will have a range of services that meet your business’ budget and address your speed and quality goals. They can also help you set clear guidelines for when automation is appropriate, and when human input is non-negotiable.

Measure what matters

Look beyond cost per word. Track the impact of localisation on engagement, conversions and market expansion. These are the metrics that drive value.

Opportunities for your business

Uncovering shadow localisation at your organisation isn’t necessarily cause for panic. It’s an opportunity to re-evaluate how localisation can support your business goals. The opportunities for your business could include one or more of the following:

• Training employees on the risks of shadow localisation
• Improving cross-functional collaboration
• Identifying situations where AI-enabled translations can be used safely with oversight

A professional language service provider can advise you on these aspects.

Reimagining the role of language experts

If you already work with great language professionals, hold on to them! Your most important assets for succeeding in international markets are right under your nose.

There are many benefits of working with a specialist provider. Language experts know how to convey your brand’s voice to audiences in your target market. They will help your content connect with new customers in ways that AI can’t.

Forward-looking businesses are recognising the need to have trusted language professionals by their side. When you view your language experts as content strategists who drive international growth, you start to see real results.

Looking ahead

Shadow localisation might seem convenient, but it often comes at the cost of quality, trust and compliance. It might also evolve with new AI features being rolled out. Ultimately, localisation isn’t just a task. It’s a strategic approach to growing your business.

The time to act is now. Business leaders should put frameworks in place to make sure that language matters align with strategic goals.

The good news? A forward-thinking language services provider can help you do precisely that. Helping businesses like yours to protect your brand, reduce risk and deliver results.

Contact Planet Languages today to assess your shadow localisation risks. Together, we can build scalable, secure and growth-focused language solutions for your business.

About the author

Antonios Koutsounouris is the Operations Director at Planet Languages. He oversees all aspects of the day-to-day business. He is passionate about using technology to provide clients with smart, cost-effective localisation solutions.